A global capability framework: The long-expected savior for the PR scene?

Reputation dilemma

The reputation of Public Relations (PR) professionals is quite frankly not the best. Mostly the profession is seen as mysterious and no one from the outside really knows what is going on behind closed doors. Codes of ethic seem to be lacking within the community of PR professionals and that is a shout for concern. If you ever come to ask a professional in the PR industry about their job and about truth-telling, the only legit answer that you will receive is that the outcomes need to be 'factually' correct. 

Oh yeah, how great is it if facts are factually correct? While I always assumed that a fact is a fact, PR seems to take this little idea to another level. What does it really mean to PR professionals? Well, basically it means twisting the truth and the facts in a favorable way for you and your client. And exactly these types of statements result in the bad reputation that PR is dealing with.

 

The question is how can PR become more professional?

One of the main problems with this is that the PR industry is lacking an attendant global framework and thus it is lacking consistency. As Gregory and Fawkes describe it in their recent article (A global capability framework: Reframing public relations for a changing world), ''PR is globalizing in a globalized world''.

Quite recently, the Global Alliance (GA), a world-wide Confederation of professional bodies in the PR industry and Communication Management, performed a longitudinal study that may shed some light on these very issues. The study was done over a period of 2 years and consisted of a Delphi study that was anonymous and held in a total of 9 countries and received more than 1000 survey responses. In the end of the study a framework with 11 capabilities and sub-capabilities was created that defines the scope and depth of the profession. This framework is what everyone in the PR community should have been waiting for. The profession itself always got criticized for being inconsistent and such, but with this new global framework there is finally the time for some consistency.

Looking into a new and bright future

Table from (A global capability framework: Reframing public relations for a changing world)

 

How can this framework be used?

The framework of capabilities is a great tool as it will assist individuals assess their own performance. Moreover, there is a practical use for it. It can help to identify individual and team baseline capabilities to assess training and development needs. It can serve as an idea for the industry and a check-up. The new framework also opens up new perspectives as it moves away from the standard instrumental approach in which competence and competency were offered all the time. Now, this beauty of a framework acknowledges agency and potential!

But is that really enough? Recent studies have also shown that PR lacks ethics and that many professionals do not belong to any Ethical code of conduct. The solution here is education!

Educate people!

The framework is a great and significant starting point for curriculum development. Educators can also improve the framework and design content to enhance the capabilities. In order to keep the consistency going it is important to ensure some level of consistency between curricula world-wide. In that sense, a shout out to all PR peeps out there, take a look at this article and get familiar with the Capability Framework as it serves the purpose of helping everyone in the industry!


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Information about the author

The author is a Corporate Communication student at the University of Amsterdam. After successfully finishing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Leiden a keen interest in communication and specifically Public Relations has developed. In this blog several of his viewpoints on different PR topics will be displayed.

Read more? 

Gregory, A., & Fawkes, J. (2019). A global capability framework: Reframing public relations for a changing world. Public Relations Review, 45(3), 101–113. 

Jackson, D., & Moloney, K. (2019). “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown”. A qualitative study of ethical PR practice in the United Kingdom. Public Relations Inquiry, 8(1), 87–101.